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U.  S.  DEPARTMENT  OF  LABOR 

W.  B.  WILSON.  Sscrelary 

WOMEN'S  BUREAU 


MARY  ANDERSON,  Director 


A  PHYSIOLOGICAL  BASIS  FOR 

THE  SHORTER  WORKING  DAY 

FOR  WOMEN 


BY 


Dr.  GEORGE  W.  WEBSTER 


^ 


BULLETIN  No.  14 


February,    192  1 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

1921 


A 


menca  vvi 


iiiL 


as  strong' 
as  Ker  womctv 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 

U.  S.  Department  of  Labor, 

Women's  Bueeau, 
Washington,  February  1,  1921. 
Sir  :  Transmitted  herewith  is  a  paper  written  by  Dr.  George  W. 
Webster,  member  of  the  Illinois  Industrial  Survey,  appointed  by  the 
governor  m  1918,  which  was  read  by  him  before  the  Illinois  Women's 
Legislative  Congress  at  their  meeting,  December  28,  1920.    It  deals 
with  the  physiological  basis  for  the  shorter  working  day  for  women 
m  industry  and  is  important  from  the  point  of  view  of  fatio-ue  and 
studies  made  on  production.    The  Women's  Bureau  has  secured  per- 
mission from  Dr.  Webster  to  publish  this  material. 
Eespectfully  submitted. 

XT       w  -o  Ttr  Mary  Anderson,  Director. 

Hon.  W.  B.  Wilson, 

Secretary  of  Labor. 

32631°— 21 1  Q 


A  PHYSIOLCGICAL  BASIS  FOR  THE  SHORTER  WORKING  DAY  FOR  WOMEN. 


"  Women  will  be  lound  to  be  fearfully  Tveiglited  in  the  race  for  life.  Tlia 
duty  of  man  is  to  see  that  not  a  grain  is  piled  upon  tJiat  load  beyond  what 
nature  imposes;   that  injustice  is  not  added  to  inequality." 

HUXLEV. 

Labor  is  the  foremost  domestic  problem  confronting  the  American 
people  to-day.  One  of  the  most  important  pliases  of  that  problem 
for  both  men  and  women  is  the  question  of  hours.  The  importance 
of  this  question  to  women  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  there  are  about 
twelve  millions  of  women  employed  in  the  hundred  and  more  leading 
industries  of  the  United  States  to-day. 

Ever  since  the  time  when  "Adam  delved  and  Eve  span,"  cheerfully 
and  uncomplainingly  woman  has  done  a  large  share  of  the  world's 
work.  In  1630  it  was  though  that  devils  went  into  old  women.  At 
the  same  time  live  cats  were  broiled  over  a  fire,  not  because  of  any 
ill  will  toward  the  cats  but  to  get  the  best  of  the  devil.  Now  the 
real  reform  consists  in  reforming  the  community  thinking  about  the 
matter. 

In  any  small  town  in  the  Southwest  j^ou  may  see  bronchos  stand- 
ing in  the  streets,  their  bridle  reins  thrown  over  their  heads  and 
touching  the  ground  in  front  of  them.  They  will  not  attempt  to 
run  away.  They  have  been  trained  to  think  they  are  tied.  They 
are  tied  by  an  idea.  Men  are  like  these  bronchos.  ]Man  does  not 
reason  as  much  as  he  thinks  he  does.  Thinking  has  never  been 
popular;  it  is  too  difficult.  Looking  backward  over  the  40  years  of 
conflicts,  holies,  opinions,  and  legislative  enactments  we  see  that 
men,  confronted  by  the  problem  of  need  for  increased  production, 
have  employed  what  the  psychologists  call  the  "  trial  and  error " 
method  of  the  unthinking  animals,  and  have  assumed  that  increased 
production  is  best  accomplished  by  increasing  the  number  of  hours 
of  labor.  They  have  been  tied,  fettered  by  this  idea,  which  has  been 
proved  so  erroneous.  Nothing  in  industry  is  now  better  known  than 
that  lengthening  the  hours  of  labor  beyond  a  certain  point  not  only 
does  not  increase  but  actually  diminished  output.  Out  of  long  pe- 
riods of  progress  by  conscious  "  trial  and  error  "  some  truths  even- 
tually emerge,  and  here  again  the  one  fundamental  achievement  has 
been  the  reform  in  the  community  thinking  about  the  matter.  Hav- 
ing learned  this,  and  admitting  its  truth,  we  inquire  what  is  the  great 
problem,  the  correct  solution  of  which  confronts  us  ? 

WHAT  IS  THE  PROBLEM? 

Industry  is  at  bottom  essentially  a  problem  in  man  power.  One 
important  element  in  this  problem  is  the  question  of  pooling  all  this 
human  power  for  the  good  of  the  industry  and  of  all  those  engaged 
in  it,  while  still  securing  the  maximum  production. 

5 


6  SHOriTER  WORKING  DAY  FOR  WOIMEN. 

Tliiis  it  appears  that  one  of  the  most  important  phases  of  the  labor 
problem  to-day  is  (he  question  of  hours.  "What  is  the  minimum  number 
of  hours  in  Avliich  the  worker  maj'  produce  the  maximum  output,  day 
after  day.  week  after  week,  year  after  year,  and  remain  well,  at  least 
so  far  as  injury  from  overwork  is  concerned?  This  ])roblem  affects 
all  classes,  as  it  involves  and  concerns  national  Avealth  and  national 
vitality,  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  race.  Of  e<(ual  impoitame  with 
the  problem  itself  is  the  question  of  hoAV  it  shall  be  solved.  It  is  of 
paramount  importance  that  the  forward-looking  amon<x  us  go  to  work 
in  a  calm,  orderly,  largeminded,  farsighted,  constructive  manner  to 
determine  and  establisli  a  standard  of  working  hours:  but  it  is  of 
infinitely  greater  importance  that  tliis  standard  shall  be  right,  and 
that  it  be  established  on  a  strictly  scientific  foundation,  a  foundation, 
a  standard,  determined  by  the  united  eiTorts  of  the  jihysiologist,  the 
psychologist,  the  engineer.  Tliis  standard  should  be  for  all  who 
labor  in  industry,  men  and  Avomen  alike. 

ARGUMENTS  AND  EVIDENCE  IN  SUPPORT  OF  THE  EIGHT-HOUR 

DAY. 

At  the  beginning  of  any  intelligent  discussion  of  any  opinion  in 
regard  to  whether  a  day  should  be  8  or  10  hours  or  longer,  we  should 
know  the  kind  of  evidence  on  which  the  opinion  is  based,  and  how 
that  evidence  was  obtained.  It  is  absolutely  and  fundamentally  es- 
sential that  any  opinions  in  regard  to  fatigue  and  output  or  hours 
and  output,  or  any  other  physiological  evidence,  should  be  based  on  a 
method  of  procedure  outlined  and  planned  by  an  expert  on  industrial 
physiolog}'.  The  work  done  by  such  men  as  Frederick  S.  Lee  (10)^ 
or  P.  Sargant  Florence  (4)  is  an  illustration  of  the  best  type  of  this 
kind  of  work. 

The  opinion  of  such  organizations  as  the  Xational  Industrial  Con- 
ference Board  (11)  should  be  accepted  with  caution,  and  onl}^  after 
carefully  considering  the  fact  that  their  evidence  was  o])taincd  by 
means  of  the  questionnaire  and  not  l\v  the  physiological  method, 
which  many  believe  to  be  the  only  correct  and  reliable  one. 

To  both  the  employer  and  the  emploj'ee  it  may  come  as  a  distinct 
shock,  and  at  least  as  a  new  idea,  that  science  can  be  a  service  to  in- 
dustry in  the  proper  solution  of  this  question.  First  there  is  the 
natural  hostility  of  labor  toward  science  in  gener:  1,  because  it  has 
often  meant  only  new  and  more  complicated  machines,  something 
often  impersonal  and  cruel.  This  is  an  erroneous  view,  for  science 
is  not  a  body  of  beliefs  and  opinions,  but  a  way,  a  method  of  dealing 
with  and  solving  problems.  "  Scientific  metliod ''  is  the  term  em-, 
ployed  for  the  orderly  and  systematic  effort  to  find  out. 

The  employer  regards  as  impractical  the  application  of  scientific 
methods  to  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  hours.  To  him  it  is  a  new 
idea,  and  "  there  is  no  pain  like  the  pain  of  a  new  idea."  The  ques- 
tion must  be  finally  settled  by  the  fair  cooperation  of  both  employer 
and  emploj'ee  in  collaboration  with  the  physiologist,  the  psychologist, 
the  engineer — after  education — and  not  by  any  granting  of  favors 
by  either  side  as  though  it  were  a  charity.  Both  should  cooperate, 
because  the  results  are  mutually  advantageous.     Having  established 

1  Reference  is  made  by  number  to  "  Literature  cited/'  p.  — . 


SHORTER  WORKING  DAY  TOR  WOMEIS".  7 

a  standard,  it  sliould  tlien  be  enacted  into  law,  but  in  fixing  a  standard 
for  women  the  fact  that  they  are  women  should  be  taken  fully  into 
consideration. 

This  standard  should  be  a  scientific  standard;  it  should  have  a 
physiological  basis.  It  is  one  of  th3  most  extraordinary  facts  in 
connection  with  the  determination  of  the  length  of  a  working  day 
that  so  little  has  been  done  to  determine  this  physiological  basis, 
and  to  apply  in  industry  what  is  already  known  to  science. 

It  has  been  abundantly  demonstrated  that  the  relations  between 
labor  and  capital  can  not  be  left  safely  to  the  unfettered  play  of 
individual  competition.  What  is  far  more  important  as  a  principle 
is  that  the  regulation  of  hours  and  conditions  of  work  is  no  longer 
a  contest  between  labor  and  capital,  especially  so  far  as  women  are 
concerned;  the  State,  society  as  an  organic  whole,  is  also  concerned. 
We  must  see  to  it  that  both  industry  and  labor  have  a  correct  con- 
ception of  their  relationsliip  to  society,  but  we  must  look  fairly  and 
impartially  at  both  sides,  as  the  problem  is  too  important,  too  vast, 
to  be  looked  at  from  only  one  side,  for  "  no  man  understands  his  own 
side  until  he  is  familiar  with  the  other  side."  Before  attaining  a 
satisfactory  solution  to  the  problem  of  labor  and  industry  a  great 
part  of  life  will  have  to  be  reconstructed.  It  is  of  fundamental  im- 
portance that  this  reconstruction  shall  be  well  revised  from  the  start, 
free  from  the  trial  and  error  method,  and  based  upon  scientific  rules, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  unfortunate  errors  of  the  past. 

Fatigue. 

Before  attempting  to  answer  the  question — solve  the  problem  of 
a  standard  of  working  hours — it  vdli  be  necessary  first  to  make  a  little 
study  of  the  human  machine  and  of  fatigue ;  what  it  is,  how  it  is  pro- 
duced, what  it  doeSj  and  how  it  may  be  regulated,  and  its  harmful 
effects  prevented. 

In  modern  industry  the  science  of  machinery  is  developed  to  its 
highest  point  of  perfection,  in  its  construction  nothing  is  left  to 
chance,  its  type  is  related  in  accordance  with  its  exact  fitness  for  the 
work  to  be  done,  it  is  not  overworked  or  overlooked,  all  questions 
relating  to  it  have  received  careful  study,  and  great  care  is  exercised 
to  secure  and  maintain  the  highest  degree  of  output  compatible  with 
necessary  wear  and  tear  or  injury  to  the  machine  itself.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  same  thought,  care,  and  attention  have  not  been  bestowed 
upon  the  human  machine.  In  this  connection,  Prof.  Frederick  S. 
Lee,  of  Columbia  University,  who  is  one  of  the  leading  authorities 
on  the  subject,  has  said  (10,  pp.  2-3)  : 

It  is  pertinent  to  our  present  purpose  to  regard  this  liuman  element,  the 
combined  body  and  mind  of  the  v\'orlver,  as  itself  a  machine.  There  is  nothing 
derogatory  to  the  worker  in  this  conception ;  it  is  the  customary  conception  of 
physiological  science,  which  has  learned  to  respect  living  substance  above  all 
other  created  things,  and  yet  finds  it  most  helpful  to  regard  every  living  body 
as  a  mechanism  working  according  to  the  fundamental  laws  of  all  mechanisms, 
but  with  its  own  specific  ways  of  acting  that  characterize  living  in  contrast  to 
nonliving  substance.  No  other  factory  mechanism  approaches  this  human  ma- 
chne  in  its  intricacy,  the  perfection  of  the  correlation  of  its  working  parts,  its 
combination  of  delicacy  and  strength,  its  adaptability  to  the  work  required  of  it. 
None  is  so  essential  to  industry. 

Nevertheless,  the  present  ways  of  handling  the  human  machine  are  empirical 
and  crude.  Experience  has  taught  most  industrial  managers  what  they  be- 
lieve to  be  the  proper  way  of  dealing  with  the  workers,  and  experience  is  coi» 


8  SHORTER  WORKING  DAY  TOR  WOMEN. 

ceivod  to  be  the  best  guitlo.  The  thought  that  the  worker  is  n  physiological 
mechanism,  and  slioiild  be  treated  as  sucli,  that  tlic  problem  of  the  worker  is  a 
physiological  problem,  is  regarded  as  academic,  lit  for  the  laboratory,  but  not 
"practical"  enough  for  the  factory.  That  Avord  "practical"  is  one  of  the  most 
alluring,  most  dangerous,  and  most  misused  words  in  the  English  tongue. 
Crimes  unnumbered  have  been  comniitted  in  its  name.  It  is  true  that  the  science 
of  the  human  machine  as  employed  in  industrial  work  has  not  yet  been  de- 
veloped so  far  as  that  of  nonliving  machinery.     *     *     * 

The  manager  in  iiulustry  gives  his  best  thouglit  to  his  machines, 
but  to  the  living  machines  he  has  given  little  attention,  and  he  has 
yet  to  be  shoAvn.  The  trouble  is  not  with  the  experience,  but  with 
the  experioncer.  He  gets  what  lie  is  looking  for,  and  does  not  ques- 
tion. Blind  "  trial  and  error  "  is  the  animal  and  the  racial  Avay, 
and,  unfortunateh%  it  continues  to  be  the  chief  method  of  modern 
man,  for  psychology  teaches  us  that  man  rarely  stops  to  think  out 
the  correct  method  of  procedure  unless  the  difliculty  is  so  great  that 
no  plan  of  action  immediately  presents  itself. 

The  wonderful,  amazing  advance  of  the  natural  sciences  during 
recent  years  is  due  to  a  new  plan  of  campaign.  The  scientists  now 
set  no  definite  problems,  plan  their  investigations  so  as  to  eliminate 
error,  and  put  intelligence  into  nature's  unintelligent  method  of  prog- 
ress. It  is  this  intelligent  planning,  this  looking  ahead  on  the  part 
of  such  men,  that  is  enabling  us  to  establish  a  scientific,  physiological 
basis  for  the  shorter  day  in  industry,  and  the  proper  handling  of  the 
human  machine. 

In  what  essential  respects  docs  the  human  machine  differ  from  the 
nonliving  machine?  The  answer  to  the  c(uestion  is  one  of  the  keys 
tliat  unlock  the  secrets  of  the  whole  question. 

The  human  machine  is  subject  to  fatigue,  the  nonliving  machine  is 
not.  Fatigue  has  been  defined  as  a  "  diminution  of  Y>'orking  capacity, 
often  accompanied  by  feelings  of  weariness,  caused  in  the  human  or- 
ganism by  the  length  or  intensity  of  some  activity."     (4,  p.  15.) 

Also :  "  The  sum  of  tlie  results  of  activity  which  show  themselves 
in  a  diminished  capacity  for  doing  work."    (6,  p.  3). 

This  is  vrell  explained  in  ISIemorandum  No.  7  of  the  British  Health 
of  Munitions  Workers  Committee.     (G,  p.  3)  : 

In  the  animal  body  the  performance  of  work  depends  on  the  activities  of 
parts  which  are  best  considered  under  three  groups — llr.st,  the  complex  nervous 
mechanisms  of  the  brain  and  spinal  cord  which  are  concerned  in  the  initiation 
and  the  distribution  of  Impulses  to  action;  second,  the  nerves  which  conduct 
the  impulses  to  muscles ;  and  third,  the  muscles  themselves,  which  by  con- 
tracting perform  external  work. 

Fatigue  has  been  separately  studied  in  all  these  parts.  In  its  essential  fea- 
tures the  fatigue  of  all  alike  has  been  found,  when  it  occurs,  to  depend  not 
upon  the  simple  using  up — exhaustion — of  the  substances  supplying  the  cliemi- 
cal  energy  which  is  liberated  during  work,  but  upon  the  accumulation  within 
the  living  elements  of  the  products  of  the  chemical  changes  involved.  Fatigue 
of  the  animal  machine,  that  is  to  say,  is  not  to  be  compared  with  the  failure 
of  fuel  in  a  steam  engine,  or  with  the  running  down  of  a  clock  weight,  but  rather 
with  the  clogging  of  the  wheels  in  some  mechanism  by  dirt. 

Explained  in  another  way,  a  tired  person  is  one  who  is  poisoned 
by  the  waste  products  formed  in  his  own  body.  The  human  ma- 
chine is  of  such  marvelous  and  wonderful  structure  that,  as  Miss 
Josephine  Goldmark  (5,  p.  13)  puts  it,  "  like  a  running  stream,  it 
purifies  itself,  and  during  repose  these  toxic  impurities  are  normally 
burned  up  b}^  the  oxj^gen  brought  by  the  blood,  excreted  by  the  kid- 


SHORTER  WORKIE-Q  DAY  FOR  WOMEIT.  9 

iieys,  destroyed  in  the  liver,  or  eliminated  from  the  body  through  the 
lungs."  Income  exactly  balances  expenditure,  repair  equals  waste, 
so  long  as  bodily  and  mental  activity  are  balanced  by  rest  and  sleep. 
Eest  is  thus  seen  to  be  just  as  much  active  process  as  is  vork.  So 
long  as  this  equilibrium  is  maintained  health  is  maintained,  but  as 
soon  as  it  is  destroyed  there  is  an  accumulation  of  waste  materials; 
fatigue,  exhaustion,  impaired  health,  follow  each  other  as  conse- 
quence upon  cause,  the  phj^siological  is  replaced  by  the  pathological, 
and  ultimately  death  may  ensue.  Between  perfect  metabolic  balance, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  death,  on  the  other,  there  are  a  large  number  of 
sequences  and  a  wide  range  and  variety  of  injuries  with  which  we 
must  become  acquainted  and  so  be  able  to  recognize  and  deal  with 
intelligently  by  preventive  means  before  irreparable  injur}^  or  death 
occurs. 

Fatigue,  like  pain,  is  one  of  the  great  safety  valres  of  the  hum.an 
machine.  It  is  protective.  It  is  a  physic  defense.  Like  pain,  it 
warns  of  and  protects  against  that  which  is  worse  than  itself.  It  is 
a  sign  that  one  is  going  too  fast. 

In  the  human  engine  certain  food  substances  are  eaten,  digested, 
absorbed  into  the  blood  stream,  assimilated  or  built  up  into  living 
tissues,  and  part  is  transformed  into  heat  and  work  in  accordance 
with  the  laAvs  of  the  conservation  of  energy.  The  building  up  and 
the  breaking  down  are  known  as  metabolism,  this  term  including  all 
those  chemical  processes  the  sum  of  which  constitute  life.  During 
this  complicatecl  process  oxygen  is  consumed,  and  this  allows  of  the 
oxidation  of  foodstuffs  at  the  temperature  and  under  the  conditions 
existing  in  the  body. 

In  this  process  where  work  is  done  waste  products  of  a  chemical 
and  essentially  acid  nature  and  known  as  fatigue  stuffs  are  produced 
and  accumulate  in  the  blood  and  cause  the  phenomenon  of  fatigue. 
."When  one  uses  up  more  than  the  income  of  food  and  oxygen  in  a  unit 
of  time,  it  means  overfatigue  and  the  breaking  down  of  tissue.  It 
means  spending  not  only  all  your  income,  but  some  of  your  reserve, 
your  bank  account,  and  if  continued  too  far,  may  lead  to  physiologi- 
cal bankruptcy. 

Industrial  fatigue  is  defined  as  "  diminution  of  working  capacity 
caused  by  the  length  or  intensity  of  some  activit}^  at  a  '  gainful  oc- 
cupation?"    (4,  p.  20.) 

It  is  the  after  effect  of  work.  It  is  the  condition  of  the  worker's 
organism  after  he  has  expended  energy  in  doing  something.  It  is  a 
necessary  by-product  of  activity.  Exertion  not  only  temporarily 
uses  up  the  energy  of  the  body,  but  it  also  generates  substances, 
poisonous  in  their  nature,  which  slows  one  down.  These  substances 
may  be  removed  by  rest.  The  greater  the  fatigue  the  greater  the 
time  required  to  overcome  it.  Twice  the  amount  of  fatigue  requires 
more  than  twice  as  much  rest,  and  in  exhaustion  or  excessive  fatigue 
a  condition  obtains  which  may  recpire  that  the  rest  period  be  pro- 
longed indefinitely.  When  this  overfatigue  sets  in  efficiency  becomes 
nil,  and  is  thus  an  economic  waste,  and,  because  of  its  disastrous 
effects,  a  waste  of  life  as  well. 

Fatigue  is  a  physiological  state  which  enters  all  human  activities. 
Its  normal  m.anifestation  constitutes  a  warning.  If  this  warning  is 
not  heeded,  the  physiological  may  become  pathological.  It  follows 
326Sr— 23 2 


10  SHORTER  WORKING  DAY  FOR  WOMEIT. 

as  consequence  upon  cause  that  if  work  is  done  rest  ultimately  be- 
comes imperative.    Rest  is  nature's  way  of  removinji:  fatiji;ue. 

The  elements  of  fati^nie  are,  broadly  sj^eakin^,  both  ]:>hysiolo^ical 
and  psycholofrioal.  Ordinaril}^  fatijruc  is  tlioujzht  of  only  as  the 
necessary  result  of  ]ihysical  \\ork.  Nothing  could  be  further  from 
a  correct  conception  than  this. 

Aside  from  phj-sical  labor,  among  the  chief  causes  of  fatigue  in 
industry  is  speed.  The  telephone  service  may  well  be  cited  as  an 
example  of  work  requiring  great  speed.  The  average  daily  hours 
are  eight  and  one-half,but  what  with  overtime,  Sunday  work, '' work- 
ing through,"  loss  of  relief,  or  "  excess  loading,"  these  are  often 
exceeded.  Two  hundred  and  twenty-five  calls  per  hour,  or  three 
and  one-half  per  minute,  seems  an  example  of  real  '"speed,"  and 
yet  the  "  peak  load  "  often  exceeds  this. 

In  the  needle  trades  a  girl  tends  a  sewing  machine  carrying  12 
needles  making  4,000  stitches  a  minute,  or  2.400,000  in  10  hours, 
often  working  in  a  bright  light  and  with  unshaded  eyes,  and  amidst 
a  noise  that  can  only  be  described  as  a  deafening  roar. 

Speed  combined  with  monotony  is  also  a  potent  factor  in  produc- 
ing fatigue. 

To  bold  one's  solf  (\o\xn  to  an  nninterostinj:  task  by  moons  of  siistainc<i  vol- 
nntary  attention  results  in  rapid  fatigue  of  brain  tracts  developed  only  late  in 
human  history  and  therefore  osi^ecially  subject  to  fatigue.  This  unnatural  sus- 
tained effort  is  present  in  all  the  various  kinds  of  industrial  work  where  there 
is  no  imnudiate  interest  in  the  finished  product,  where  it  is  necessary  to  hold 
one's  self  down  to  nrere  work  for  a  certan  number  of  hours  each  day.  It  is 
present  in  many  kinds  of  clerical  and  office  work,  and  in  routine  tasks  of  all 
kinds.  The  resuUinj;;  fatigue  is  both  physical  and  mental,  lielease  from  it  is 
sought  again  in  unnatural  ways,  sometimes  in  narcotics  or  stimulants,  such  as 
alcohol,  tobacco,  narcotic  drugs,  tea,  coffee,  sugar;  sometimes  in  such  amuse- 
ments as  dancing,  moving  pictures,  and  A-audeville  shows  requiring  no  exercise 
of  volunatry  attention  ;  sometiures  in  various  forms  of  social  outbi'eak  such  as 
strikes,  antisocial  agitation.?,  revolutions  against  existing  morality  and  the 
existing  social  order;  sometimes  merely  in  reading  journals  or  magazines  of 
revolt.     (12,  pp.  13G-137.) 

In  the  pea-canning  industry  a  girl  inspects  two  cans  of  peas  per 
.second,  or  72,000  per  day.  The  cappers  x^lace  the  caps  on  the  cans  at 
the  rate  of  GO  to  80  per  minute. 

In  the  shoe  industry  a  workman  revolves  the  shoe  in  such  manner 
as  to  trim  off  the  crimped  surplus  leather  from  the  "  upper."  His 
task  is  5,200  shoes  a  da3^ 

In  the  eyeletting  department  of  the  shoe  industry  an  expert  worker 
can  finish  2.000  pairs  of  women's  shoes  in  one  day.  When  it  is  re- 
membered that  each  of  these  shoes  has  as  many  as  12  holes  irregu- 
larly spaced,  making  18,000  eyelets  per  day,  a  new  idea  of  '"speed"  in 
industry  is  obtained. 

These  are  merely  a  few  examples  of  the  monotonous  and  rapid  work 
which  is  required  of  so  many  women  in  the  industries  of  the  country, 
and  wdiich  by  its  very  nature  increases  their  burden  of  fatigue. 

Noise  is  another  element  in  fatigue,  as  are  the  rhythm  and  speed 
of  the  raachine.  The  surrender  of  the  worker  to  the  time  and  rhytlim 
of  the  machine  becomes  a  source  of  fatigue  because  the  machine  is  set 
for  a  constant  uniform  .speed,  while  the  worker  becomes  tired,  and 
fatigue  tends  to  slow  him  down,  requiring  a  constantly  increasing 
effort  to  maintain  the  same  speed  as  the  machine.  He  supplements 
the  defects  of  the  machine,  becomes  its  eyes,  legs,  arms,  anything  it 


SHOKTER  WOEKIE-Q  DAY  FOR  WOMEIsT.  H 

needs,  discards  vrliat  is  imnecesaary  for  its  requirements  as  valueless, 
stifles  his  creative  impulses ;  and  this  leads  to  fatigue. 

Other  "well-recognized  conditions  influencing  the  occurrence  of 
fatigue  are  shop  conditions,  such  as  ventilation,  temperature,  hu- 
midity, lighting,  rest  periods,  etc. 

And  just  here  the  advocate  of  shorter  working  hours  will  be  met 
by  one  of  the  most  plausible  but  fallacious  of  arguments  on  the  part 
of  the  employer.  He  argaies  that  he  has  carefully  tested  it  out  on 
repeated  occasions  and  finds  that  where  he  compares  the  output  of 
a  10  and  an  11  hour  da^^  the  output  of  the  latter  is  always  correspond- 
ingly greater,  and  therefore  he  is  sure  that  the  contentions  for  a 
shorter  day  are  wrong.  He  has  often  tried  it  out  in  his  own 
factory,  and  he  knows.  He  does  not  tell  that  the  speed  of  the  ma- 
chine sometimes  determines  the  output.  He  takes  no  account  of 
fatigue,  of  increased  cost  of  labor  turnover,  spoiled  work,  accidents, 
illness,  and  the  ultimate  injury  to  the  worker's  health.  He,  too,  is 
not  only  "  tied  by  an  idea  "  but  tainted  with  the  motive  of  industry. 
It  has  ever  been  difficult  to  accept  a  new  idea  when  the  mind  is  filled 
with  ideas  which  have  been  so  long  believed  and  accepted  that  they 
have  become  "  institutional." 

There  are  many  hitherto  unrecognized  causes  of  fatigue.  Prof. 
Irving  Fisher  points  out  that  any  successful  life  must  satisfy  six  or 
seven  of  the  great  fundamental  instincts — self-preservation,  self-ex- 
pression, the  instinct  of  workmanship,  self-sacrifice,  the  home-making 
instinct,  loyalty,  and  the  instinct  of  worship.  He  says:  "In  order 
that  the  laboring  man  may  live  his  life  he  must  satisfy  something 
more  than  the  instinct  of  self-preservation  *  *  *.  Their  souls 
are  hujigry  and  thirsty  to  satisfy  these  great  instincts.  *  *  *  " 
(3,  pp.  14-15)  while  their  employers  assume  that  they  are  interested 
only  in  wages.  "  To  use  the  workingman's  arms  and  legs,  and  to 
ignore  that  he  has  a  brain  is  to  ruin  him  as  a  craftsman  and  to 
degrade  him  as  a  man." 

Mr.  Louis  D.  Brandeis,  in  discussmg  this  same  jproblem  (13.  p. 
7659),  says: 

Unrest,  in  my  mind,  never  can  be  removed,  and  forttmately  never  can  be 
removed  by  mere  improvement  of  the  physical  and  material  condition  of  tbe 
workiugman.  If  it  were,  we  sliould  run  great  risk  of  improving  their  material 
condition  and  reducing  their  manhood.  We  must  bear  in  mind  all  the  time 
that  however  much  we  may  desire  material  improvement,  and  must  desire  it 
for  the  comfort  of  the  individual,  that  we  are  a  democracy;  and  that  we  must 
have,  above  all  things,  men ;  and  it  is  the  development  of  manhood  to  which 
an  industrial  and  social  system  must  be  directed. 

The  iDoint  to  be  emphasized  is  that  when  these  great  fundamental 
instincts  are  not  satisfied,  or  at  least  more  than  one  of  them,  the 
result  is  an  atmosphere  of  discontent  that  is  a  potent,  fruitful  source 
of  fatigue.  It  was  not  the  size  of  the  salary  alone  that  sent  our  boys 
to  Europe  or  "  over  the  top." 

^-^^lichever  man  is  right — Prof.  Irving  Fisher ;  or  Dr.  Cabot,  who 
says  (2)  that  life  consists  of  four  things :  work,  play,  love,  and  wor- 
ship ;  or  Edward  L.  Thorndike ;  or  Carleton  H.  Parker ;  or  Watson, 
or  Johns  Hopldns — two  facts  remain,  namely,  that  these  instincts, 
or  appetences,  are  primal  tendencies,  and  that  repression  of  them, 
results  in  increased  irritability,  "  balked  disposition,"  and  becomes  a 
source  of  fatigue  and  thus  of  lessened  efficiency.     On  the  other  hand. 


12  SHORTER  WORKIIs^G   DAY   FOR   WOMEN. 

Avliere  the  worker  is  permitted  to  exercise  his  natural  instincts,  espe- 
cially of  creative  worlcnianship,  and  'of  exploration  and  invention, 
we  see  the  human  machine  at  its  best,  functioning  witli  the  minimum 
of  strain,  and  tlicrcfore  the  minimum  of  overfatirjue.  and  incidentally 
with  increased  ]iaj)pine^s,  if  Aristotle  was  right  when  he  said  that 
liappiness  consistetl  in  tlic  exercise  of  normal  function. 

These  instincts  can  not  be  abolished  by  any  Inmian  power,  and 
suppression  of  tlicm  with  consequent  ''balked  disposition"  may  lead 
to  unpleasant  or  even  disastrous  consoquences  and  are  a  fruitful 
source  of  unrest  and  fatigue. 

Fatigue  puts  the  worker  in  an  abnormal  frame  of  mind.  The  first 
striking  effect  of  fatigue,  whether  of  a  muscle  or  of  a  man,  is  in- 
creased irritability.  This  leads  him  to  attempt  to  deaden  his  fatigue 
by  excesses  of  various  kinds,  such  as  tobacco,  alcohol,  exciting  amuse- 
ments; these  again,  in  turn,  leading  to  increased  susceptibility  to  in- 
fection of  all  kinds,  because  his  powers  of  resistance  arc  diminished. 

One  of  the  powerful,  important  factors  making  directly  for  fatigue 
is  the  '•  sense  of  economic  insecurity."  This  haunting  fear  is  espe- 
cially noticeable  in  the  seasonal  trades.  AVhat  the  worker  needs  is 
the  stabilizing  of  employment  rather  than  charity,  and  the  shorter 
day  is  a  step  in  this  direction. 

The  measure  of  industrial  fatigue. 

Having  foimed  something  of  a  mental  picture  of  what  fatigue  is, 
the  next  practical  question  for  solution  is  how  shall  we  measure  it. 
It  has  been  shown  that  in  the  production  of  industrial  fatigue  there 
are  man}'  elements,  that  it  is  a  complex  problem,  and  yet  it  is  possible 
to  measure  it  with  a  considerable  degree  of  accuracy. 

The  first  and  most  important  means  of  measuring  fatigue  is  by 
estimating  output.  Estimating  output  not  only  enables  the  measure- 
ment of  fatigue,  it  also  enables  the  determination  and  establishment 
of  a  phj'siological  standard  for  a  day's  work.  In  other  words,  it 
will  determine  just  how  manj'^  hours  are  required  to  produce  the 
maximum  of  output  without  overfatigue. 

Space  forbids  reference  to  nuich  of  the  large  amount  of  rapidly 
accumulating  evidence  supplied  by  most  trustworthy  authorities  in 
this  field,  but  a  brief  account  of  the  work  of  the  Illinois  Industrial 
Survey  (7)  will  indicate  the  trend  of  the  findings  which  are  being 
generally  secured  on  the  subject  of  output  and  hours. 

In  1918  the  Illinois  Industrial  Survey  Commission  was  appointed 
by  Gov.  Frank  O.  Lowden  in  accordance  with  an  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture, directing  the  commission  to  "make  a  complete  survey  of  all 
those  industries  in  Illinois  in  which  women  are  engaged  as  workers, 
with  special  reference  to  the  hours  of  labor  for  women  in  such  in- 
dustries "  and  '•  the  effect  of  such  hours  of  labor  upon  the  health  of 
the  women  workers." 

One  of  the  studies  in  this  survey  (T,  p.  71-80)  consisted  in  making 
a  comparison  of  output  in  the  8i-hour  day  with  the  output  in  the 
10-hour  day,  in  three  establishments  where  all  the  shop  conditions 
remained  the  same,  the  only  change  being  from  a  10  to  an  8^  hour  day. 

One  of  the  establishments  investigated  was  a  soap-making  plant 
which  had  changed  its  standard  hours  per  day  from  10  to  8i  and  its 
standard  week  from  55  to  48  hours.  This  change  was  made  earl}-  in 
the  summer  of  1918. 


SHORTER  WORKING  DAY  POR  W0ME2^.  13 

A  group  of  24  workers  was  selected  for  study.  These  24  were  all 
workers  who  had  been  employed  by  the  company  at  the  same  occupa- 
tion, wrapi3ing  and  packing  a  standard  brand  of  soap,  for  at  least 
three  years  previous  to  the  period  of  which  study  was  made.  This 
group  of  AYorkers  was  studied  10  weeks  under  the  long-hour  and  10 
weeks  under  the  short-hour  schedule.  At  both  of  these  times  the  de- 
partment was  running  to  caxDacity,  so  that  no  shortage  of  material 
would  decrease  production.  In  fact,  the  pressure  of  work  was  so 
great  that  a  night  shift  was  established  during  the  first  period  and 
was  kept  at  work  during  the  second  period. 

The  work  consisted  of  wrapping  cakes  of  soap  and  packing  them 
in  cases  for  sealing  and  shipment.  Five  cases  an  hour  has  always 
been  considered  a  good  average  rate  of  iDroduction,  a  rate  which 
would  lead  to  a  production  of  50  cases  under  a  10-hour  day,  and  42 
to  43  cases  under  an  8^-hour  day.  The  girls  in  the  special  group 
studied,  being  the  best  of  the  operators,  v>'0uld  produce  up  to  the 
maximum  rate  per  hour. 

Facts  disclosed  in  the  report  of  the  survey  by  an  analysis  of  pro- 
duction under  the  long  and  short  working  days  were : 

1.  The  group  studied  packed  an  average  of  5.1  cases  per  hour  under  the  10- 
hour  day ;  xinder  the  SJ-hour  day  the  same  girls  packed  an  average  of  5.7  cases 
per  hour,  an  increase  of  over  half  a  case  per  hour,  or  ll.S  per  cent. 

2.  This  increase  is  not  due  to  the  necessity  for  producing  more  in  order  to 
earn  the  same  wages,  as  piece  rates  were  increased  33J  per  cent  at  the  same 
time  that  the  hours  were  decreased. 

3.  The  average  production  per  day  under  the  55-hour  week  was  42.S  cases. 
Under  the  4S-hour  week  the  average  production  per  day  was  45.5  cases. 

4.  Production  under  the  shorter  v.'ork  day  and  week  held  a  great  deal  steadier 
than  production  under  the  longer  hour  schedule.  During  the  first  10-week 
period  studied  the  production  rate  fluctuated  from  4.1  cases  per  hour  to  6.5 
cases  per  hour.  During  the  second  10-week  period  studied  this  fluctuation  was 
from  5.3  to  6.2  cases  per  hour.  This  steadiness  of  production  is  probably  indi- 
cative of  a  greater  reserve  of  energy  on  the  part  of  the  worker,  and  so  of  less 
fatigue. 

That  the  output  per  hour  is  higher  under  the  short-hour  system  controverts 
the  statements  made  by  the  company  oflicial  who  a.sserted  that  employees 
limited  their  production  to  five  cases  per  hour,  and  that  the  limit  lield  whether 
the  working  day  was  10  hours  or  SJ  hours  in  length.  No  indications  wei'e 
found  that  the  workers  in  this  department  limit  their  own  production.  With 
the  increase  in  energy  caused  by  lessened  work  time,  production  tends  to  find 
its  own  maximum  level  and  holds  steady  at  a  higher  point. 

Graphic  illustrations  of  increased  output  under  a  shortened  work- 
ing day  were  found  in  a  large  corset  factory,  employing  women 
almost  exclusively,  which  was  also  included  in  the  Illinois  survey. 

On  October  1,  1917,  the  hours  in  this  factory  were  reduced  from 
54  to  48  per  week.  Piece  rates  remained  the  same.  The  report  of 
the  survey  states  that  some  of  the  results  of  the  change  in  hours 
were : 

1.  The  average  output  of  the  entire  factory  per  employee  per  day  increased 
from  0.831  dozen  in  1916  to  0.883  dozen  in  1918,  an  increase  per  hour  of  over 
19  per  cent. 

2.  Within  a  group  of  36  steady,  experienced  workers  the  w^eekly  output 
increased  13.4  per  cent  and  the  hourly  output  31.6  per  cent  following  the 
decrease  in  hours. 

3.  This  increase  in  production  was  not  spasmodic,  but  was  maintained  over 
the  entire  year  following  the  reduction  in  hours.  No  change  in  machinery  or 
working  conditions  was  made  during  the  period  covered  by  the  study. 

4.  In  July,  1918,  nine  months  after  the  decrease  in  hours,  a  10  per  cent  wage 
bonus  was  instituted.  Production  during  the  two  months  following  increased 
2.5  per  hour,  a  practically  negligible  amount. 


14  SHORTER  WORKING   DAY   TOR  WOMEN. 

The  3G  individual  workers  studied  had  been  employed  in  this 
factor}'  for  over  a  year  previous  to  the  change  in  hours. 

They  came  from  various  departments,  as  follows:  Strippers  0,  oycletter  1, 
steel  stitchers  2.  scamors  7,  foUler  1,  paste  inacliinc  1,  l)iiKlers  -4,  clasp  seamer  1, 
l)oner  1,  garters  5,  finisher  ],  lace  binders  2,  baster  1,  shaper  1,  tackers  2; 
total  3G. 

In  this  factory  wage  is  an  accurate  gauge  of  output  in  any  one  department. 
In  studying  the  3G  experienced  workers,  therefore,  the  wage  records  were  taken 
as  output  records. 

,  During  the  last  five  weeks  under  the  54-hour  week  the  average  weekly  wage 
per  girl  was  .$10.2",  or  19  cents  per  hour.     During  the  eight  weeks  following 

Ithe  change  it  was  .$11.29.    During  the  year  following  the  change  it  was  .$11.G2. 

;  In  other  words,  the  shortening  of  the  wcH^k  meant  an  immediate  increase  in 

:  output  within  this  group  of  io.l  per  ceut  and  an  average  increase  for  the 
ensuing  year  of  13.4  per  cent. 

!      It  might  be  claimed  that  the  fact  that  the  piece  rates  remained  the  same 

'1)eforo  as  after  the  change  in  hours  might  be  respon.sible  for  "speeding"  on 
tlie  part  of  the  employees  and  that  this  "sixieding"  might  account  for  the 
increase  in  the  output.     If  this  rate  of  production  could  be  kept  up  by  the 

-same  people  throughout  the  period  of  a  year  mider  the  shorter  hours,  it  may 
safely  be  concluded  that  the  increased  speed  was  not  "speeding"  in  the  sense 
of  an  acceleration  of  production  beyond  a  rate  normally  possible  to  the  worker. 

Another  group  of  workers  selected  for  an  intensive  study  during 
tliis  survey  consisted  of  the  buttonhole  makers  in  a  large  garment 
'  factor}'.    The  report  states  that  the  facts  Avhich  made  a  study  of  this 
department  valuable  are: 

1.  No  conditions  of  personnel,  labor  turnover,  character  of  work,  or  sanita- 
tion have  changed  during  th.e  four-year  period  covered  by  the  study. 

2.  Hours  liave  been  reduced  from  54  to  49  weekly  in  tlie  period  from  1913 
to  1917. 

3.  Wages  have  increased  at  each  decrease  in  hours.  If  th's  had  not  been 
'  the  case,  it  might  be  supposed  that  employees  would  "  speed  up  "  in  order  to 

earn  as  much  after  as  before  the  change  in  hours. 

4.  Buttonhole  making  is  piecework,  and  records  on  hours  and  output  are 
therefore  complete  and  available  for  study.  Ail  work  studied  was  done  by 
liand. 

With  this  background  the  findings  of  the  study  are  particidarly 
significant.    The  report  states : 

The  piece  rates  in  January,  191S,  were  29.8  per  cent  higher  than  in  January, 
1013.  According  to  the  cost  of  living  series  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Labor  Statistics  (p.  17,  No.  5,  whole  No.  228),  the  cost  of  food  increased  during 
the  same  period  about  30  per  cent.  It  is,  therefore,  seen  that  better  standards 
of  living  did  not  bring  about  increased  productivity,  since  the  increase  in  the 
cost  of  living  during  the  four-year  period  from  1913  to  1917  was  fully  sufficient 
to  absorb  the  increase  in  wages. 

The  number  of  buttonhole  makers  varies  from  50  to  100  in  tlais  factory.  The 
turnover  is  about  200  per  cent  annually.  The  women  who  do  this  work  are 
of  a  good  grade  of  intelligence.  The  character  of  the  working  force  has  not 
changed  during  the  years  studied.  Tlie  average  age  of  these  women  is  about 
27  years,  and  this  has  not  changed  materially  in  the  last  five  years. 

In  this  work  the  months  of  January  and  July  are  at  the  heiglit  of  the  busy 
season.  The  slack  season  months  sometimes  show  a  low  production,  because 
of  an  over  supply  of  workers  for  the  amount  of  material.  Tiie  month  of 
January  was  chosen  for  study  because  of  the  fact  that  production  would  be 
almost  even  at  that  time. 

The  buttonhole  on  which  rates  are  based  is  a  standard  buttonhole,  and 
variations  are  referred  to  this  standard  to  determine  the  rate  of  compensation. 
Thus,  if  a  buttonhole  requires  half  as  much  time  and  labor  on  the  employee's 
part  as  the  standard  buttonhole,  it  is  paid  for  at  half  the  rate.  Production 
figures  in  this  study  refer  to  the  number  of  standard  buttonholes.  The  quality 
of  the  material  and  the  difficulty  of  the  work  have  not  changed  in  the  four 
years  from  1913  to  1917  to  any  perceptible  degree.  As  no  machinery  whatever 
is  used  in  the  operation  of  making  buttonholes,  there  could  be  no  change  la 
this  resnect. 


SHOETEE,  WOKKIXG  DAY  FOE  WOMEIST.  15 

Hours  in  tlie  factory  studied  luive  decreased  as  follows : 

Hours  weekly. 

May  1,  1915 54  to  52 

May  1,   1916 ' 52  to  49 

Jan.  22,  1917 49  to  43 

This  study  covers  tlie  montli  of  January  in  1913,  1914,  and  1917.     Tlie  rate 
clianges  during  tills  period  were : 
May  1,  1913,  a  10  per  cent  increase. 
May  1,  1916,  an  increase  of  over  18  per  cent. 

In  the  four-year  period  from  January,  1913,  to  January,  1917,  the 
rate  of  buttonhole  makino-  for  the  group  of  workers  studied,  all  of 
whom  put  in  full  time  during  the  entire  month  of  January,  increased 
from  6.9  to  7.4  per  hour  per  worker,  and  the  increase  was  more  than 
sufficient  to  make  production  for  the  entire  month  in  1917  equal  to 
that  in  Januarj^,  1913,  in  spite  of  the  decrease  in  working  hours  of  five 
hours  per  week. 

These  figures  conclusively  show  that  the  production  rate  in  this  department 
lias  increased  so  much  that  total  output  under  a  time  schedule  five  hours  less 
is  equal  to  and  even  greater  than  production  under  the  longer  hours. 

The  investigator  vras  told  that  the  same  conditions  hold  in  other  departments 
in  the  factory,  so  that  fev»'er  workers  are  required  for  an  equal  volume  of  pro- 
duction at  present  than  was  the  case  five  years  ago. 

"  Health  conditions  have  considerably  improved  in  this  factory  during  the 
past  five  years.  The  reduced  hours  have,  in  the  opinion  of  the  factory  health 
oflicer,  been  a  considerable  factor  in  promoting  health,  in  increasing  content 
among  tlie  workers,  ajid  so  in  raising  the  rate  of  production. 

The  commission  has  reached  its  conclusions — we  wish  to  make  this  point 
clear — almost  entirely  on  the  basis  of  its  belief  that  its  investigations  show 
that  longer  hours  than  S  per  day  or  48  per  week  tend  to  produce  harmful  physio- 
logic, or  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say  pathologic,  fatigue  in  women  workers. 
They  further  recognize — they  can  not  do  otherwise — that  women  as  a  class  are  not 
as  strong  as  men,  that  many  of  them  are  of  necessity  more  or  less  occupied  out- 
side their  ^-sorking  hours  with  exacting  home  duties,  and  that  many  of  them  are 
to  be  the  mothers  of  the  future.  For  all  these  reasons  the  State  should  throw 
legal  safeguards  about  them."     (7,  p.  10.) 

The  relation  between  hours  and  output  is  not,  however,  the  only 
way  of  determining  the  effect  of  long  hours  on  fatigue.  A  second 
means  of  measuring  fatigue  is  by  noting  the  number  and  time  of 
occurrence  of  accidents. 

Statistics  from  all  countries  which  have  recorded  the  hours  in 
which  industrial  accidents  occur,  show  that  the  number  of  accidents 
tends  to  increase  with  the  incidence  of  fatigue,  due  to  the  f act_  that 
when  the  brain  is  fatigued  the  attention  may  flag  and  "  reaction  time  " 
is  retarded.  (Eeaction  time  is  the  name  given  to  the  interval  of  time 
between  the  occurrence  of  some  external  phenomenon  and  the  signal 
of  its  having  been  perceived.) 

The  result  of  this  *  *  *  ig  that  accidents  connected  with  work  niustbe 
more  numerous  as  the  dav  advances,  more  numerous,  too,  in  the  corresponding 
hours  at  the  end  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  week,  if  work  is  pressed  too  far. 
The  statistics  of  the  distribution  of  accidents  connection  with  labor  therefore 
constitute  an  indication  of  the  degree  of  fatigue  of  the  human  motor.     (9,  p.  24. ) 

A  similar  situation  is  also  exemplified  in  those  industries  and 
trades  where  errors  and  mistakes  occur  instead  of  accidents.  Im- 
bert  and  Mestre  charted  over  2,700  accidents  among  over  60,000 
workmen  in  various  trades  and  constructed  a  curve  of  them. 

"The  results  may  be  grouped  as  follows:  (1)  The  number  of  accidents  in- 
creases progressively  from  hour  to  hour  during  the  first  half-day;  (2)  after 
the  fairly  long  midday  rest,  in  the  early  hours  of  the  second  half -day,  the 


10  SnORTER   WORKING    DAY   FOR   WOMEN. 

mmibor  of  accidents  is  notably  loss  than  dnrliiK  the  last  liour  of  tlio  niornin?;; 
(3)  in  tlio  course  of  tiie  second  half  of  the  day  the  accidents  apain  become 
progressively  more  frequent  from  hour  to  hour;  (4)  the  nnniiicr  of  accidents 
per  hour  toward  the  end  of  the  second  half-day  is  notably  higher  than  the 
correspondini;  maximum  of  the  morning.     ({),  p.  40-41.) 

Not  only  does  fatiouc  decrease  output  and  increase  accidents,  but 
its  effect  u]>on  health  is  so  marked  that  a  third  plan  of  mea.siiring 
fatifrnc  is  by  noting  these  effects  npon  the  health  of  the  average 
Avorker. 

Overfatigue  not  only  increases  the  su^^ceptibility  of  workers  to  gen- 
eral and  infectious  diseases  but  also  to  many  forms  of  nervous  dis- 
eases as  Avell,  esi)ecially  in  those  forms  of  Avork  in  which  there  arc 
the  elements  of  i)hysical  work  and  of  nervous  tension  and  psychologi- 
cal effects  as  well. 

Mosso's  work  has  been  confirmed  by  loteyko,  who  has  shown  (9, 
p.  23-24)  that  '•  the  exhaustion  of  our  bodies  does  not  increase  in 
direct  ratio  with  the  work  accomplished  *  *  *  ^  given  task  per- 
formed by  a  fatigued  muscle  has  a  much  more  injurious  effect  upon 
that  muscle,  and  results  in  the  production  of  greater  fatigue  than 
vrould  be  the  case  if  the  same  task  were  ])erformed  under  normal 
conditions.  *  *  *  "When  the  body  is  tired  a  small  amount  of 
lal)or  produces  disastrous  results." 

Scientific  laboratory  experiments  made  both  at  home  and  abroad 
amply  demonstrate  that  fatigue  markedly  diminishes  the  power  of 
the  blood  to  destroy  bacteria  and  neutralize  their  toxic  products. 
Even  immunity  may  be  destroA'ed  for  the  time  being  by  fatigue.  ■ 
Here  comes  in  the  problem  in  public  health  since  the  overfatigued 
individual  not  only  early  acquires,  but  also  spreads  disease. 

AVorkers  in  dangerous  trades  who  are  overfatigued  are  more  readily 
attacked  by  occupational  diseases.  Overfatigue  and  exhaustion  are 
permanent  factors  in  predisposing  to  disease  or  premature  death  in 
all  industries.  A  high  labor  turnover  caused  by  sickness  or  discon- 
tent and  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  spoiled  work  can  also  be 
charged  to  overfatigued  workers. 

Ph^'sical  debility  follows  fatigue.  Laxity  of  moral  fiber  follows 
phy.sical  debility.     Long  hours  and  overwork  lead  to  intemperance. 

Legal  aspects  of  the  problem. 

In  any  di.scu.ssion  oi  the  laws  which  limit  an  adult's  hours  of  labor, 
we  must  constantly  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  no  laAV  is  final  in  the 
United  States  until  it  has  passed  the  review  of  the  courts,  and  that 
it  is  the  function  of  the  courts  to  determine  whether  the  legislature 
had  any  reasonable  grounds  for  its  action;  not  whether  the  laws  as 
enacted  are  in  themselves  inherently  good  or  bad,  but  whether  the 
legislature  was  justified  in  its  conclusions  as  eml)odied  in  the  laws. 

In  1008  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  unequivocally  upheld  the 
constitutionality  of  the  10-hour  law  for  women  as  a  health  measure, 
sayirig  (14,  p.  421-422),  "  as  healthy  mothers  are  essential  to  vigorous 
ofTsiDring,  the  physical  well-being  of  woman  becomes  an  object  of 
public  iiiterest  and  care  in  order  to  preserve  the  strength  and  vigor 
of  the  race." 

"  The  limitations  which  this  statute  places  upon  her  contractual 
powers,  upon  her  right  to  agree  with  her  employer  as  to  the  time 
when  she  shall  labor,  are  not  imposed  solely  for  her  benefit,  but  also 
largel}'  for  the  benefit  of  all." 


SHORTER  WORKING  DAY  FOR  WOMEIT.  17 

This  T\'as  the  most  STrceping  decision  ever  rendered  by  the  Federal 
Supreme  Court  in  relation  to  working  hours.  It  was  not  confined  to 
a  consideration  of  the  10-hour  day  or  to  a  working  day  of  an}-  length. 
It  left  to  the  individual  States  the  liberty,  under  their  police  power, 
to  determine  what  is  wholesome  and  reasonable,  rejecting  the  fiction 
of  the  freedom  of  contract  as  regards  the  working  woman,  declaring 
that  "  her  j)hysical  structure  and  a  proper  discharge  of  her  maternal 
functions — having  in  view  not  merely  her  own  health,  but  the  well- 
being  of  the  race — justify  legislation  to  protect  her  from  the  greed 
as  well  as  the  passion  of  man."    (14,  p.  422.) 

In  1910  the  constitutionality  of  the  10-hour  law  for  women  in  Illi- 
nois was  upheld  by  the  Illinois  Supreme  Court,  following  the  deci- 
sion of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  the  Oregon  case,  in 
which  it  did  find  a  clear  connection  between  the  measure  and  the  pro- 
tection of  public  health,  not  being  deterred  by  a  fictional  theoretical 
"  freedom  of  contract "  idea  as  a  previous  supreme  court  had  been 
14  years  previously,  saying,  "  what  we  know  as  men  we  can  not  i^ro- 
fess  to  be  ignorant  of  as  judges."    (8,  p.  520.) 

The  constitutionality  of  a  10-hour  working  clay  was  now  estab- 
lished, but  the  reasonableness  of  further  restriction  was  in  doubt. 
In  1915  tlie  United  States  Supreme  Court  upheld  the  constitutionality 
of  the  California  law  which  fixed  an  8-hour  day  as  the  maximum  for 
women  workers,  saying  that  "  this  is  not  to  imply  that  a  limitation  of 
the  hours  of  labor  of  women  might  not  be  pushed  to  a  wholly  indefen- 
sible extreme,  but  there  is  no  ground  for  the  conclusion  here  that  the 
limit  of  the  reasonable  exertion  of  protective  authority  has  been  over- 
stepped."   (15,  p.  382.) 

The  establishment  of  standards  of  working  hours  lies  chiefly  with 
the  individual  States  as  a  legitimate  exercise  of  their  police  power, 
and  to  this  field  of  statesmanship,  vre  Iiave  seen,  the  fourteenth  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution  offers  no  barriers. 

The  need  of  this  legislation  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  9  States 
women  may  work  70  hours  hours  or  more  per  week ;  in  20  States  55 
to  TO  hours.  In  six  States  there  is  no  limitation  whatever  of  the 
hours  women  may  work,  and  in  only  five  is  the  48-hour  week  recog- 
nized by  law. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  established  the  8-hour 
day  as  the  standard  in  the  Government  service  for  workers  in  private 
employment  engaged  on  Governm_ent  contracts  and  for  certain  speci- 
fiecl  groups  of  emploj^ees  exclusive  of  clerical  and  professional 
workers. 

In  1919  the  Paris  Peace  Conference  adopted  the  principle  which 
had  been  recommended  by  the  Commission  on  International  Labor 
Legislation :  "  The  adoption  of  an  8-hour  day  or  a  48-hour  week  as 
the  standard  to  be  aimed  at  where  it  has  not  already  been  attained." 
(1,  art.  427,  p.  186.)' 

It  has  been  said  that  "  there  is  no  wiser  statesmanship  than  that 
which  concerns  itself  with  the  care  of  the  child."  No  one  would 
minimize  the  importance  of  any  phase  of  child  v/ elf  are  work ;  but  it 
would  seem  that  if  the  highest  type  is  to  be  realized  the  wisest  states- 
manship is  that  which  concerns  itself  with  the  welfare  of  the  young 
women  who  are  the  prospective  mothers  of  the  future  race. 


18  SnORTER  WORKING   DAY  FOR  WOMEN. 

If  individuals  and  firms  and  even  States  arc  so  lacking  in  their 
social  development  that  they  are  willing;  to  sacrifice  these  women  to 
industrial  advantao;e,  and  especially  "vvherc  the  States  fail,  as  five 
of  them  have  utterly  failed  to  provide  any  form  of  protective  labor 
legislation  for  women,  and  where,  as  in  Illinois,  the  legislation  is  un- 
satisfactory and  inadequate,  then  organized  society  must  take  action. 

Not  only  must  organized  society  protect  women  as  workers,  at 
least  as  much  as  men,  in  their  inalienable  rigiit  to  the  joy  of  labor, 
but  it  must  protect  itself  from  any  of  the  evil  or  sinister  effects  con- 
nected with  their  labor  as  women.  This  is  not,  and  can  not  be, 
jnirely  a  personal  matter  between  employer  and  employee,  as  the 
former  would  try  to  make  us  believe. 

The  increasing  impairment  of  racial  integrity  shows  that  we  must 
think  for  the  future  and  of  racial  as  well  as  social  stability.  Con- 
servation must  be  applied  to  our  heritage  of  health,  not  to  the  end 
that  women  may  become  like  men  or  more  masculine,  but  that  tliey 
may  become  more  feminine,  to  the  end  that  happiness  may  be  found 
in  fulfillment  of  function. 

Ov.ing  to  tlie  complexity  and  variation  in  tlie  character  of  industry 
and  the  strains  in  it,  it  is  apparent  that  it  is  impossible  to  make  a 
standard  of  hours  for  each  industr}^,  based  on  fatigue,  but  it  is  pos- 
sible to  have  two  or  three  levels  or  standards  of  hours  dependent 
upon  the  physical  and  psychological  strains  of  the  industry.  How- 
ever, a  maximum  would  be  a  splendid  start,  and  it  would  soon  be 
possible  to  demonstrate  the  economic  and  social  value  of  a  physio- 
logical standard,  once  it  is  given  a  fair  trial. 

Science  must  be  applied  not  only  to  immediate  economic  needs,  but 
also  to  greater  indi^■idual  and  racial  resistance  to  disease,  for  tlie 
quality  of  our  citizens  will  determine  the  character  of  our  civiliza- 
tion. 

Surely  it  is  not  enough  that  a  woman  is  able  to  endure  the  hard- 
ship and  fatigue  of  a  10-hoiir  day  and  not  die!  Life  for  a  woman 
should  mean  more  than  Avage  earning,  and  women  should,  and  do, 
mean  more  to  our  country  than  mere  machines.  We  should  see  to 
it  that  while  engaged  in  the  industries  her  hours  of  lal)or  are  sliort 
enough  to  enable  lier  to  develop  into  a  normal,  healthy,  valuable 
member  of  society. 

To  secure  such  an  amendment  to  the.  V^deral  Constitution  as  will 
permit  the  Federal  Government  to  take  cfirect  charge  of  this  matter, 
the  12,000,000  Avoraen  in  industry  in  this  country  should  unite  with 
the  other  millions  of  women  voters.  The  probable  attitude  of  the 
Congress  has  already  been  indicated  in  having  established  the  8- 
hour  day  for  certain  groups  of  its  employees,  the  Federal  Go\ern- 
ment  being  the  largest  employer  of  labor  in  the  United  States.  ' 

The  sciences  of  physiology  and  psychology,  the  law,  the  decisions 
of  the  courts,  the  police  power  of  the  States,  the  example  of  the  Con- 
gress, the  peace  conference,  the  joint  interests  of  both  employer  and 
employee,  the  rights  of  society  expressed  in  the  voice  of  an  en- 
lightened social  conscience,  all  unite  in  faA'oring  the  establishment  of 
the  8-hour  day  as  the  maximum  which  should  be  required  of 
women  in  industry.  For  upon  the  women  depends  the  vigor  of  the 
race,  and  the  vigor  of  the  race  must  not  be  exploited  for  present-day 
purposes  instead  of  for  racial  conservation. 


Date  Due 

^ 

1 

QP421  ^3 

Webster 


